The conspiracy theories about everything are no more including those of us who had doubts about the election process.

Just three weeks to Election Day, and voter fraud and efforts to stop it were a big topic of discussion at the State Capitol.

The House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy Committee, asking some pointed questions about the criminal case involving Ronnie Williams and Lorraine Lee Combs.

Federal prosecutors say during the 2021-22 election cycle, the Nevada couple filled out hundreds of fraudulent voter registration applications in 13 Minnesota counties.

“There doesn’t seem to be a check when this group submitted the fraudulent applications,” noted Rep. Kristin Robbins, R-Maple Grove, the committee chair. “So, I don’t know where that breakdown comes in.”

Court documents filed in June say Williams and Combs filled out the forms with fake names, addresses, dates of birth, and social security numbers, and that an unnamed foundation paid for them.

Prosecutors say the foundation paid Williams for each completed application.

State lawmakers passed a law in 2023 banning that kind of pay-for-play operation, where the couple was paid based on how many applications they finished. 

The motive, authorities say, was money. 

“This is not a case about fraudulent votes,” Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon told the panel. “This is also a case of the system working to detect those applications so they could be appropriately challenged and referred to law enforcement for prosecution and conviction.”

He notes local elections officials noticed irregularities in the paperwork and notified authorities.

Simon says his office, the elections personnel and the FBI tracked down the bad actors.

We asked Robbins if the committee had found any new evidence of fraud at this point.

“You know, we have not seen it,” she says. “But we are very concerned that the foundation in question gets their entire budget from federal and state grants. I want to talk to the health department and other departments that are their grantees.”

Robbins says she’d like to see a process where the Secretary of State’s Office would vet registration applications before they are sent out to county elections officials. 

But after the meeting, DFL members say they’re not sure committee hearings are the best way to investigate these kinds of irregularities.  

“I mean, in this committee, we’ve had some people the press has identified. Nothing through this committee process at all,” says Rep. Dave Pinto, DFL-St. Paul. “Of course, we want to make sure our elections are secure as possible and there is access to the ballot as well. That’s the belief that got discussed quite a bit.”  

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